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Hceession  No.  /  S- /  (^ 6^  CAass' No. 


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BY   -    -    - 

P.   W.   DOONER 


THE 


Genesis  of  Water 


BY 


P.     W.     DOONER 


1894 

RENSHAW  &  JONES,   PRINTERS 
LOS   ANGELES 


Copyrighted  by  P.  W.  DOONER 
June  25th,  i8g4. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


IN  bringing  this  paper  before  the  public,  the  writer  is 
not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  the  greeting  which 
usually  goes  forth  to  the  obtrusive  theorist  is  seldom 
either  friendly  or  reassuring.  Practical  achievement  is 
the  requirement  of  this  age  and  its  application  has 
wonderfully  amplified  the  field  of  correspondence 
between  humanity  and  its  environment.  But  notwith- 
standing its  many  conquests,  the  practical  side  of  man, 
equally  with  the  theoretical  side,  has  failed  to  account 
for  or  to  explain  certain  physical  phenomena  that  have 
been  continually  on  parade  before  the  eyes  of  science 
ever  since  man  became  a  thinking  animal.  Take  as 
an  example  of  the  things  that  are  known  but  unex- 
plained: the  Comet;  the  Aerolite;  the  Glaciation  of 
the  North  Temperate  Zone;  Gravitation;  Physical 
Life;  Matter, — mysteries,  all.  Now,  I  did  not  begin 
to  write  with  any  thought,  whate\-cr,  of  invading  the 
domain  of  any  of  these  problems,  but  with  only  the 
one  thought  of  accounting  for  the  fact  of  the  presence 
of  water  upon  the  earth — a  constituent  of  our  planet 
not  accounted  for  by  the  nebular  hypothesis.  But  as 
I  proceeded  with  my  examination  of  the  one  subject  I 
had  under  consideration,  my  analysis  gradually  sug- 
gested and  unfolded  certain  necessarv  relations  and 
conditions  that  could  not  fail  to  draw  attention  to 
certain  observed  phenomena  intimately   connected   with 


4  INTRODUCTORY. 

one  or  another  of  the  subjects  mentioned  above.  These 
analogies  between  such  phenomena  upon  the  one  hand, 
and  upon  the  other  the  consequences  that  become 
indispensable  to  the  truth  of  the  theory  here  advanced, 
present  at  least  a  very  remarkable  train  of  coinci- 
dences, if  they  present  nothing  more.  The  conclusion 
that  I  have  reached,  and  the  inevitable  tendency  of 
the  discussion  to  explain  some  of  these  phenomena  are 
accordingly  now  submitted. 


THE 

GENESIS   OF  WATER. 


CHAPTER    I. 

That  the  matter  of  the  Universe  has  been  aggre- 
gated into  suns  and  systems  is  a  wonderful  truth  that 
stands  revealed  in  the  face  of  visible  nature.  For  all 
the  purposes  of  this  discussion,  which  is  intended  to 
throw  light  upon  the  mystery  of  the  origin  of  water 
and  the  agency  by  which  it  came  upon  the  earth,  it 
might  suffice  to  simply  observe  all  that  is  thus  forcibly 
presented  to  the  mind  and  so  to  let  the  matter  rest, 
if  it  were  not  that  some  of  the  surviving  phenomena 
of  cosmic  activitv  that  are  still  visible  to  the  observer 
of  the  solar  disturbance  will  be  introduced  as  eviden- 
tial facts  in  the  course  of  this  inquiry. 

Whether  the  nebular  hypothesis  of  Laplace  is,  or 
is  not,  the  true  explanation  of  the  process  of  world- 
building,  it  has  at  least  the  conceded  merit  of  being 
the  most  consistent  theory  ever  advanced  to  explain 
the  formation  of  the  suns  and  systems  that  shine  upon 
us  from  infinite  space. 

This  hypothesis  while  essentially  consistent  with 
that  which  I  now  advance  is  not  co-extensive  with 
the  latter,  nor  indispensable  to  its  support,  and  hence 
it  does  not   follow    from    the    observation    of   principles 


6  THE    GKNESIS   OF   WATER. 

that  may  not  have    a    common    application    that    both, 
or  that  either,    should  not  be  true. 

It  will  be  remembered,   without  the  aid   of   partic- 
ular reference,    that  the  nebular  hypothesis    holds    sub- 
stantially that  the  matter  which  now  composes  all  the 
bodies  of  our  solar  system  was    originally    in    a    highly 
heated,   gaseous  state  and  in    such    condition    formed  a 
globe,     the     circumference    of    which    extended    beyond 
the  orbit  of  Neptune.      That  the  radiation  of  heat  into 
space   caused    the    cooling    globe    to    contract    upon    its  . 
center  and  that  the  motion  thereby  developed  took  the 
inevitable  spiral  or  whirling  direction,    as    observed    in 
whirlpools,   cyclones  and  other   phenomena.       That    the 
rotary  motion  thus   primarily    instituted    became    estab- 
lished   as    a    law     thereafter    ordained     to    govern    and 
direct  the  movements  of  the  radiating  mass.       That  as 
the  rotary  motion    gradually    increased    the    centrifugal 
force  overcame  the    attraction    of  gravitation    operating 
upon  the  outlying  strata  of  the  whirling  body    and    as 
a  consequence  a  ring  of  condensed    vapor    was    thrown 
off    from    its    surface.      That    other    and    similar    rings 
were    in    like    manner    detached    in     succeeding    ages. 
That  those  rings,     retaining    the    motion    they    had    at 
the  time  of   their    separation    from    the    interior    mass, 
continued  to  revolve  in  the  same   direction    as    that    of 
the  nebulous  substance  within  and  in  a  common  plane. 
That  the    matter    composing    the    rings    gradually  con- 
densed and  in  each  case  formed  a    single    globe    which 
thereafter  pursued  its  course    around    the    central    body 
and  remained  subject  to    the    same    law    of   contraction 
and  rotation  that  had    caused    its    separation    from    the 
parent  body.      That    those    planetary    globes    threw    off 
rings  in  a  similar  manner   which    likewise  consolidated 
and  formed  satellites.      Saturn's  rings,    as  suggested  by 
Dr.    Mitchell,    have  been    left    unbroken    to    show    how 


THE    GENKSrS   OK    WATER.  7 

worlds  are  made  and  may  yet  consolidate  into  addi- 
tional moons.  Such,  in  brief,  is  the  nebular  hypoth- 
esis— between  which  and  the  theory  I  now  advance 
there  will  be  found  to  run  a  chain  of  consistent 
mutual  support. 

A  few  remarks  upon  the  observed  phenomena  of 
solar  activity  as  well  as  upon  some  of  the  ascertained 
truths  concerning  the  constitution  of  the  solar  mass 
are  pertinent  at  this  stage  of  these  investigations. 
Data  gathered,  as  the  result  of  careful  observations 
made  upon  the  sun  during  the  times  of  total  eclipse, 
show  that  it  is  enveloped  in  an  atmosphere  of  incan- 
descent Indrogen  and  mineral  vapors,  which  has  been 
designated  the  chromosphere,  outside  of  which  is  a 
vast  region  composed  in  part  of  reflected  light  to 
which  the  name  corona,  is  given,  and  beneath  the 
chromosphere  is  the  incandescent  photosphere. 

In  the  work  of  observing  and  examining  these 
several  regions  of  the  solar  world  with  the  view  of 
ascertaining  the  elements  that  are  present  there,  the 
spectroscope  is  the  chief — it  might  be  said  almost  the 
only — reliance  of  the  astronomer. 

The  analysis  it  makes  of  the  light  that  comes 
from  the  sun  proves  that  the  chromosphere  is  com- 
posed chiefly  of  incandescent  hydrogen  intermixed,  to 
some  extent,  with  the  vapors  of  nearly  all  the  min- 
erals of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  as  constituting 
proportions  of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  and  of  those  of 
other  substances    that    are    unknown    upon    our    globe. 

The  eminent  astronomer  and  scientist,  M.  Faye, 
who  has  made  the  study  of  the  chromosphere  a  spe- 
cialty, says  that  the  activity  of  this  region  is  the 
grandest  illustration  of  the  principle  of  the  terrestrial 
cyclone,  on  a  gigantic  scale,  that  the  mind  can  con- 
ceive.       He    has    discovered    a    constantly    descending 


8  THE   GENESLS   OF   WATER. 

whirling  motion  by  which  the  hydrogen  clouds  that 
form  the  outer  layers  of  the  chromosphere  are 
gathered  up  and  whirled  or  sucked  downward  to  the 
fiery  photosphere  whence  they  are  again  belched  forth 
as  a  flaming  mass,  the  temperature  of  which  gradually 
falls  as  the  incandescent  matter  recedes  from  the  solar 
surface,  until,  toward  the  outer  region  of  the  chromos- 
phere it  is  again  caught  up  in  the  fiery  maelstrom  to 
undergo  again  and  again  this  blazing  ordeal  ;  and  that 
the  process  continues  without  cessation. 

Professor  Young,  of  Princeton  College,  who  has 
devoted  much  time  and  observation  to  the  study  of 
the  chromosphere,  gives  a  most  stirring  description  of 
the  solar  storms  as  observed  by  himself  in  September, 
1 8/ 1.  He  had  been  watching  the  movements  of  a 
hydrogen  cloud,  the  length  of  which  he  estimated  at 
100,000  miles.  This  cloud  hung  some  50,000  miles 
above  the  sun's  surface  at  a  moment  when  the  Profes- 
sor was  temporarily  interrupted  and  called  away. 
When  he  resumed  his  observations,  half  an  hour  after- 
ward, he  says  the  whole  cloud  had  been  literally 
blown  to  shreds  by  some  uprush  from  beneath. 
Instead  of  the  quiet  cloud  he  now  saw  a  mass  of 
detached  fragments  which  arose  with  an  almost  per- 
ceptible motion  until  in  ten  minutes  the  uppermost 
were  more  than  200,000  miles  from  the  solar  surface. 
I  quote  his  words  wherein  he  says:  "This  was  ascer- 
tained by  careful  measurements  ;  the  mean  of  three 
closely  accordant  determinations  giving  210,000  miles 
as  the  extreme  altitude  attained." 

I  have  been  particular  to  call  special  attention  to 
the  result  of  this  observation  and  to  those  of  the 
observations  of  Professor  Faye,  for  the  reason  that  the 
same  Infinite  Design  that  has  left  its  unmistakable 
impress  upon  all  interpreted  Nature  will    be    found    to 


THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 


operate  for  a  mighty  end  and  with   consummate  purpose 
in  these  phenomena. 


CHAPTER    II. 

When  we  stand  upon  the  shores  of  a  placid  sea 
and  contemplate  its  wonderful  majesty,  its  inconceivable 
life  and  its  overruling  necessity  as  the  basis  of  every 
form  and  state  of  organic  existence,  an  incredulous 
impulse  arrests  the  imagination  whenever  we  attempt 
to  ascribe  a  common  origin  to  this  living  thing  and  to 
the  hard,  repellant,  mineral  formation  upon  which  it 
rests.  The  theory  I  advance  of  the  origin  of  water 
and  the  manner  of  its  accumulation  upon  the  earth 
will  find  powerful  advocacy  in  such  contemplation.  We 
cannot  summon  logic  to  satisfy  the  critical  instinct,  as  we 
find  it  difficult  to  believe,  that  the  Creator  has  placed  all 
the  necessary  conditions  of  organic  life  anywhere  upon  any 
globe  that  whirls  in  infinite  space  and  has  withheld, 
or  now  withholds,  the  life  principle  from  active  mani- 
festation there  ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  as 
powerless  to  believe  that  this  living  element  is  suffered 
to  hang  idly  in  the  chromosphere  of  any  sun  for 
countless  millions  of  years,  while  planets  and  satellites 
are  hungry  for  its  presence  and  need  this,  only,  to 
supply  all  the  conditions  necessary  to  organic  life. 

I  do  not  trifle  with,  nor  in  any  manner  assail  the 
nebular  hypothesis,  if  I  seek  to  separate  the  world  of 
water  from  the  world  of  minerals  and  to  claim  for 
each  a  separate  and  distinct  origin.  These  two  forms 
of  matter  have  comparatively  little  in  common  ;  for 
while  the  nebular  hypothesis  is  apparently  a  logical 
interpretation  of  the  Divine  plan  so  far  as  it  applies 
to  the  mineral  kingdom,  it  is  wholly  incapable  of 
explaining  the  ordinary  phenomena  of  the  world  of 
water.      It  would    seem    far    more    logical    even    as    an 


lO  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

apparent  physical  requirement  to  ascribe  a  distinct 
origin  to  each  ;  and  this  impression  will  be  found  to 
grow  into  and  become  a  powerful  necessity  the 
further  we  inquire  in  the  origin  and  genesis  of  the 
forms  of  matter. 

If  one  mode  or  manner  of  aggregation,  based 
upon  the  law\s  of  caloric,  can  give  as  the  result  a 
world  of  iron  and  copper  and  carbon  and  silicon  and 
all  the  rest,  conglomerated  and  analgamated  into  a 
rocky,  liquified,  or  vaporized  mass,  surely  the  sugges- 
tions of  an  untrammeled  judgment  would  lead  us  to 
search  for  a  different  mode  and  manner  of  aggregation 
in  order  to  produce  a  substance  so  essentially  different 
from  the  former  as  that  which  we  find  presented  in 
water,  and  which,  speaking  generally,  has  no  property 
in  common  with  minerals  under  normal  conditions. 
Of  course  I  take  cognizance  here  of  the  well  estab- 
lished theory  of  the  mineral  basis  of  the  various 
earths,  and  may  as  well  premise  by  saying  now  that 
until  the  advent  of  water  upon  the  surface  of  the 
mineral  globe,  in  the  course  of  the  creative  plan,  no 
such  form  of  matter  as  is  now  presented  by  any  of 
the  numerous  classes  or  kinds  of  earth  containing  oxy- 
gen, was  at  all  possible.  It  is  a  recognized  truth  of 
chemistry  that  every  particle  of  earth  that  rests  upon 
the  rockv  frame-work  of  our  globe  was  at  some  remote 
period  of  the  world's  history  an  uncombined  portion  of 
one  or  another  of  the  original  elements  known,  or  of 
an  element  perhaps  still  unknown  and  undiscovered, 
and  that  until  water  came  upon  the  mineral  world 
with  its  oxygen  there  was  no  such  process  possible  as 
oxidation,  or  the  formation  of  any  mineral  oxide — 
hence  no  earthy  matter  as  this  is  now  presented  upon 
our  continents. 

At  what  stage  of  the  work    of   world-l)uilding    the 


TIIK    GENESIS   OF   WATER.  II 

element  known  as  oxygen  began  to  nuuiifcst  its  pres- 
ence and  to  perform  its  miracles  of  transformation 
upon  our  globe,  now  demands  investigation.  If  it  was 
contained  in  the  cosmic  (ire-mist  and  continued  in 
association  with  the  mineral  vapors  and  the  gases  that 
have  condensed  into  the  chromosphere  and  photos- 
phere, its  presence  should  be  manifested  in  some  man- 
ner in  the  solar  flames.  But  such  is  not'  the  case. 
The  analytical  power  of  the  spectroscope  fails  to  give 
forth  an\'  indication  of  the  presence  of  oxygen  either 
in  the  spectrum  of  the  sun,  or  in  that  of  any  of  the 
fixed  stars  belonging  to  the  first  or  second  types, 
according  to  the  classification  of  Secchi  (the  white  and 
yellow  stars,  respectively),  while  some  of  the  stars  of 
the  third  type,  (the  red  stars),  show  the  lines  of 
watery  vapor  and  an  entire  absence  of  the  hydrogen 
lines,   so  abundant  in  the  solar  spectrum. 

Dr.  Schellen  in  his  great  work  on  Spectrum  Anal- 
ysis says,  that  neither  oxygen,  nitrogen,  nor  carbon, 
has  ever  been  discovered  either  in  the  spectrum  of  the 
photosphere  or  chromosphere.  He  explains  the  absence 
of  the  carbon  lines  by  showing  that  the  temperature  even 
of  the  sun  is  too  low  to  allow  of  the  conversion  of 
carbon  into  the  gaseous  form.  His  efforts  to  explain  the 
absence  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen  lines  is  far  from  clear 
or  consistent,  and  his  deduction,  "  That  it  must  not 
be  concluded,  from  the  absence  of  the  lines  of  nitro- 
gen and  oxygen  in  both  these  spectra,  (those  of  pho- 
tosphere and  chromosphere),  that  these  substances  are 
not  present  in  either  the  sun  or  the  chromosphere,''  in 
view  of  his  admission  that  they  cannot  be  found 
there,    is  of  very  limited   scientific   importance. 

It  seems  then  to  be  established  upon  authority 
that  the  solar  actixity  is  a  process  of  incandescence, 
but  never  of  oxidation  or  combustion.      In   no   case,    as 


12  THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

the  result  of  observations  made,  is  there  an  indication 
of  any  consumption  of  hydro-carbons  to  convert  the 
dazzlingf  brilliancv  of  the  solar  surface  into  the  sombre 
clouds  of  smoke  so  insej^arable  from  indiscriminate 
oxidation,  or  "burning."  It  is  always  the  same 
brilliant  incandescence,  the  result  of  electric  or  other 
vibration,    never  of  the  fires   of  combustion. 

As  a'  further  proof  of  the  absence  of  oxygen  from 
the  chromosphere  we  may  mention  the  presence  there 
of  free  hydrogen  in  such  enormous  volumes  that  the 
sun's  atmosphere  is  shown  to  be  composed  chiefly  of 
this  gas  in  a  state  of  vibratory  intandescence.  From 
all  that  we  know  concerning  the  properties  of  this  gas 
we  are  impelled  to  the  conclusion  that  free  hydrogen 
gas  at  the  temperature  of  incandescence  could  not 
exist  where  oxygen  is  present  as  a  gas,  because  their 
chemical  union  and  the  formation  of  watery  vapor 
would  be  an  instantaneous  and  inevitable  consequence, 
except  in  a  case  where  the  temperature  should  be 
maintained  so  intensely  high  as  to  decompose  the 
water  as  soon  as  it  should  be  formed,  or  to  prevent 
the  combination  of  the  gases  in  the  first  instance — a 
condition  of  temperature  which,  although  possible  in 
the  lower  portion  of  the  chromosphere,  (whither  oxy- 
gen could  not  penetrate),  could  not  exist  toward  the 
outer  region  where  the  temperature  of  the  hydrogen 
would  be  lower  and  the  combining  oxygen  compara- 
tively cold  up   to   the  moment   of  contact. 

Another  argument  tending  to  show  the  absence 
of  oxygen  from  the  sun  is  furnished  by  the  composi- 
tion of  aerolites  which,  according  to  generally  accepted 
theory,  originally,  like  the  earth,  formed  part  of  the 
sun's  mass.  These  bodies  frequently  fall  to  the  earth, 
and  upon  being  submitted  to  chemical  analysis  are 
found   to  be  composed   mainly   of  pure   metals    such    as 


THE   GENESIS   OF    WATER.  1 3 

iron,  copper,  tin,  nickel  and  others,  with  only  so 
much  oxygen  as  they  would  l)e  likely  to  absorb  during 
their  brief  passage  through  the  earth's  atmosphere, 
when  their  chemical  combination  with  its  oxygen  pro- 
duced their  singularly  instantaneous  incandescence  and 
external  oxidation.  While  noting  these  observations 
I  chance  to  take  up  a  copy  of  a  local  daily  newspaper 
wherein  I  find  the  following  item.  It  is  one  of  many 
analyses  made  of  meteorites  with  generally  an  equiva- 
lent result,  it  says  :  "A  body  of  meteoric  iron  of  an 
estimated  weight  of  20,000  pounds  has  just  been  dis- 
covered near  San  Antonio,  Texas.  It  assays  97.5  per 
cent,  of  pure  iron  and  2.5  per  cent  of  nickel.  There 
are  also  traces  of  cobalt."  Now  let  us  note  the  fact 
that  each  of  these  constituents  are  found  in  the  crust 
of  the  earth  but  in  proportions  so  small  compared  to 
the  mass  of  the  globe  as  to  be  inconsiderable,  while 
oxygen  which  forms  nearly  half  of  the  explored  mass 
of  the  earth  is  not  present  in  this  visitor  from  the 
realms   of  space. 

In  like  manner  we  search  in  vain  for  the  presence 
of  oxygen  in  the  moon.  According  to  the  accepted 
hypothesis  she  sprang  from  the  body  of  the  earth  at 
a  time  when  the  latter  was  a  lurid  mass  of  flaming 
hydrogen  and  incandescent  mineral  vapors  only  recently 
separated  from  their  respective  parent  and  grandparent, 
the  sun.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  whatever  were 
the  constituent  elements  of  the  moon  at  the  time  of 
that  separation,  we  would  expect  to  find  there  now — 
changed  in  form  no  doubt,  but  immutable  in  element- 
ary constitution.  And  what  do  we  find  ?  The  spec- 
troscope can  give  us  no  information  beyond  the  fact 
that  all  the  light  we  receive  from  the  moon  is  reflected 
sunlight  —  having     the    lines    of    the    solar    spectrum. 


^W. 


14  THE    GENESIS    OF   WATER. 

Astronomers  look  in  vain  for  any  indications  of  an 
atmosphere  there.  No  clonds  nor  vapors  of  any  kind 
ever  rise  or  hang  above  her  naked  breast.  The  rays 
of  a  torrid  snn  ponr  unremittingly  for  weeks  upon  a 
single  region  of  her  surface  but  she  makes  no  response. 
It  is  in  vain  that  we  scan  her  illuminated  disc  for 
signs  of  active  combustion,  or  for  indications  of  watery 
vapor  rising  responsive  to  the  thermal  influence.  We 
look  in  vain  for  indications  of  refraction  such  as  an 
atmosphere  should  produce  in  the  case  of  the  occulta- 
tion  of  the  stars  ;  there  is  no  refractive  power  in  her 
surroundings.  Her  mountains  tower  into  the  ether 
at  elevations  far  surpassing  the  loftiest  peak  upon 
our  globe,  but  their  tops  are  destitute  of  snow  or  moist- 
ure. In  short,  there  is  not  and  never  has  been  water 
there.  Her  scarred  and  pitted  surface  presents  rather 
the  appearance  of  a  once  molten,  mineral  mixture, 
hardened  while  yet  in  the  act  of  bubbling,  than  that 
of  rocks  formed  by  water.  The  whole  aspect  is  that 
of  mineral  slag  in  fantastic  aggregation,  unenlivened 
by  the  familiar  mountain  ridges  peculiar  to  stratified 
rocks  that  were  formed  upon  the  earth  after  the  advent 
of  water  and  subsequently  heaved  into  continental 
chains. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  observed  facts  that  the 
outer  regions  of  the  chromosphere  consist  mainly  of 
free  hydrogen  gas  heated  to  the  combining  point  with 
oxygen  to  form  water ;  that  oxygen  has  never  been 
found  to  exist  in  the  sun,  or  the  chromosphere  ;  that 
there  is  not  the  slighest  indication  that  it  has  ever 
existed  in  the  mass  of  the  moon  ;  that  it  is  not  found 
in  aerolites  that  fall  to  the  earth  ;  that  it  has  never 
been  found  to  exist  in  any  of  the  fixed  stars  of  the 
class  to  which  our  sun  belongs,  and  yet  that  it  does 
enter  so  largely  into  the  composition  of  the  earth,    the 


THE   GENICSIS   OF   WATER. 


15 


inference  would  seem  pretty  well  sustained  a  priori 
that  the  oxygen  of  the  earth  was  not  originally 
obtained  from  the  sun.  In  that  case  we  are  called 
upon  to  look  elsewhere  for  its  source. 

Thus  far  I  have  confined  my  observ^ations  to  those 
phenomena  that  tend  to  establish  the  separate  and 
independent  aggregation  of  solids  upon  the  one  hand 
and  of  the  compound  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  known 
as  water,  on  the  other  ;  and  now,  if  I  can  show  in  all 
reasonable  and  logical  probability  that  water  (or  rather 
oxygen  which  is  nearly  the  same  thing  rarefied,  as 
sixteen  out  of  every  eighteen  parts  of  water  are  oxy- 
gen), has  had  its  origin  apart  from  the  mineral  moiety 
of  the  terrestrial  globe,  I  necessarily  establish  by  the 
same  facts  and  reasoning  the  further  principle,  that 
there  must  have  been  a  time  subsequent  to  that  of 
the  material  aggregation  of  the  nebulous  matter  of  the 
solid  earth,  at  which  the  union  of  the  terrestrial  ele- 
ments as  they  now  exist,  took  place.  The  circum- 
stances of  such  union,  or  the  law  under  which  it 
culmhiated,  would  then  be  the  *only  problem  remain- 
ing for  consideration. 

No  argument  is  necessary  to  establish  as  an 
extreme  probability  that  if  oxygen  does  not  exist  in 
either  the  sun\s  photosphere  or  chromosphere  it  is  not 
an  element  that  enters  into  the  composition  of  that  bodv, 
and  also  that  if  the  earth,  as  a  detached  portion  of  the 
sun,  has  now  half  its  explored  mass  composed  of  oxy- 
gen it  must  have  assumed  its  dual  constitution  after 
its  separation  from  the  parent  body.  The  query 
necessarily  arises,  whence  came  the  oxygen  that 
enters  so  largely  into  the  composition  of  the  crust  of 
the  earth,  and  whence  came  the  nitrogen  with  which 
it    is    associated    in    the    atmosphere? 


1 6  THE   GENESIS   OF  WATER. 

CHAPTER    III. 

The  nebular  hypothesis  demands  the  concession 
of  the  primordial  fire-mist  endowed  with  energy.  From 
this  beginning  the  harmonious  order  and  infinite 
variety  and  profusion  of  the  solar  systems  of  space  are 
shown  to  necessarily  flow.  It  gives  us  for  contempla- 
tion worlds  in  all  stages  and  periods  of  growth  toward 
maturity  ;  worlds  mature  and  capable  of  sustaining 
life  and  worlds  that  have  grown  cold  and  chill  and 
dead.  Behind  the  world  periods,  it  gives  the  fire-mist 
in  all  stages  of  manifestation  from  imponderable  gas  to 
incandescent  mineral  vapors.  But,  as  will  be  noticed 
from  the  observations  already  recorded,  while  this 
theory  accounts  for  and  explains  the  origin  of  the  min- 
eral moiety  of  the  terrestrial  mass,  the  origin  of  the 
other  half  is  left  wholly  afloat  in  the  realm  of  con- 
jecture or  speculation.  There  was  no  trace  of  oxygen 
co-existent  with  the  cooling,  condensing  vapors  that 
compose  the  frame-work  of  the  globe  and  no  trace  of 
oxygen  in   the  reservoir  whence   it  came. 

The  origin  of  water,  then,  and  the  manner  of  its 
being  brought  into  combination  with  the  mineral  sub- 
stance of  the  globe  are  the  chief  points  in  regard  to 
which  I  would  advance  a  theorv.  This  theorv  demands 
a  single  concession,  it  is  this  :  That  the  elements, 
oxygen  and  nitrogen,  are  not  necessarily  modifications 
of  any  other  form  of  matter,  but  that  they  existed  at 
the  beginning  relatively  to  the  suns  and  nebuloe,  as 
they  are  found  to  exist  at  present — separate  and  inde- 
pendent or  simple  elements.  Nor  is  there  any  reason 
to  assume  that  these  gases  had  their  primary  existence 
in  any  manner  of  association  with  any  other  of  the 
terrestrial  elements. 

When,  therefore,  at  the  appointed  time,  the  Sov- 
ereign Fiat  commanded  that  Light   Be,  the  oxygen  and 


THE   GENESIS   OF    WATER.  1 7 

nitrogen  (the  latter  having  practically  no  affinity  in 
the  inorganic  forms  of  matter),  sprang  forth  and 
roamed  through  the  realms  of  space  in  innumerable 
compact  aggregations  obedient  to  the  first  law  that 
thrilled  through  the  night  of  Chaos.  In  this  respect 
these  elements  were  coeval  with  the  unillumined  fire- 
mist  and  hence  neither  form  of  matter  enjoyed  the 
exclusive  priority  of  being.  P)Ut  this  compound,  or, 
at  least,  commingled  gas,  was  endowed  with  some 
wonderful  properties,  of  which  the  most  essential,  con- 
sidered as  a  means  of  securing  its  safety  and  inde- 
pendence, was  its  tendency  to  escape  from  the  vicinity 
of  heated  bodies  through  its  powers  of  indefinite 
expansion  ;  also,  in  the  case  of  the  oxygen,  its  won- 
derful and  unaccountable  affinity  for  certain  other 
forms  of  matter  under  conditions  hitherto  unen- 
countered  and  unattained.  A  warm  or  hot  breath 
caused  the  \vandering  mass  to  bound  with  inconceiv- 
able rapidity  away  from  the  source  of  heat,  and  the 
free,  cold  ether  in  the  opposite  direction  or  that  of 
non-resistance,  always  gave  room  for  escape.  It  w^as 
the  now  familiar  phenomenon  of  the  expansion  of 
heated  air. 

But,  after  the  lapse  of  ages,  when  the  condi- 
tions of  nebular  aggregation  had  so  far  advanced  that 
heated  bodies  of  mineral,  nebulous  matter  had  gath- 
ered weight  bv  the  process  of  concentration,  the  law 
of  gravitation  made  it  imperative  upon  the  lighter 
body  that  it  should  visit  the  region  and  dominion  of 
the  heavier.  The  latter,  a  condensing  mineral  globe, 
through  a  process  and  period  of  solidification  had 
reached  a  sta2:e  wherein  active  incandescence  obtained 
perpetually  upon  the  surface  of  a  liquid  mass  of 
molten  metals  that  thrilled  outlying  space  by  its 
miofhtv     enereies.       It     was     thus     that     its     attractive 


1 8  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

powers  gathered  to  itself  everything  within  the  sphere 
of  its  influence.  Among  the  bodies  that  became  sub- 
ject to  its  relentless  power  there  might  have  been 
seen,  had  there  been  an  eye  to  behold  it,  afar  off  in 
the  realms  of  space,  an  apparently  insignificant  body. 
The  light  by  which  it  could  be  seen  was  borrowed 
from  the  glowing  surface  of  the  attracting  body  and 
reflected.  This  superior  body  we  may  now  designate  a 
sun,  for  convenience.  It  sends  forth  brilliant  flames 
of  incandescent  hydrogen  that  reach  out  for  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  miles  into  space  and  light  the  path- 
way of  the  captive  body  to  what  seems,  for  the  time 
being,  a  doom  of  inevitable  destruction.  To  escape 
from  the  peril  it  endeavors  to  fly  off"  into  the  cold, 
friendly,  impassive  ether,  but  the  centripetal  power  is 
too  strong  and  grows  more  intense,  so  that  the  wanderer 
is  hurled  with  inconceivable  rapidity  toward  the  cen- 
tral flames.  But,  as  it  approaches,  a  property  within 
itself  that  was  dormant  while  it  traversed  the  regions 
where  reigns  the  absolute  zero  of  temperature  is  sud- 
denly awakened  to  the  new  danger.  A  wonderful 
heat  bursts  upon  its  side.  It  bounds  outward  from 
this  repulsive  energy  and  obeying  neither  force  abso- 
lutely, sweeps  around  the  sun  at  a  velocity  often  far 
exceeding  a  million  of  miles  per  hour,  and,  with  this 
momentum  to  carry  it  past  its  peril,  escapes  into  the 
ether  whence  it  came,   but  on  the  opposite  side. 

If  the  heat  of  the  sun  could  have  been  reduced  at 
the  moment  when  it  caused  the  gaseous  globe  to 
expand  and  so  disperse  toward  outer  space,  to  a  tem- 
perature of  5000  degrees,  or  thereabouts,  there  could 
be  no  manner  of  doubt  but  that  the  stranger  would 
have  been  cast  upon  the  glowing  surface  of  the  sun, 
there  to  combine  and    remain  forever. 

But  in  this  perihelion  sweep,   strange  things    have 


THE   GENESLS   OF   WATER.  1 9 

happened  !  The  oxygen  has  found  its  first  affinity, 
for,  in  passing,  it  was  compelled  to  force  its  way 
through  a  mighty  cloud  of  incandescent  hydrogen 
somewhere  within  the  chromosphere.  In  the  case  of 
such  contact,  only  one  chief  result  could  follow  and 
that  would,  at  the  same  time,  be  inevitable.  This 
would  be  the  chemical  union  of  the  flying  mass  of 
oxygen  with  the  dallying  cloud  of  incandescent  hydro- 
gen and  the  formation  of  watery  vapor.  Each  part  of 
the  oxygen  that  participated  in  the  encounter 
instantly  seized  upon  two  parts  of  hydrogen,  quenched 
their  fires  and  carried  them  off  into  space — and  so  the 
daring  captive  of  yesterday  is  the  intrepid  hero  of 
today  and  like  the  fabled  Theseus  of  old,  conquers  his 
destiny  and  carries  of  his  bride. 

But  this  encounter  with  the  sun  at  such  close 
quarters  has  produced  a  wonderful  complication  of 
effects.  The  concentration  of  the  gases  in  producing 
water  has  wrought  a  visible  contraction  within  the 
sphere  of  the  hydrogen  cloud  as  well  as  within  that 
of  the  gaseous  globe,  while  the  expansive  power  of 
the  solar  heat  is  meantime  driving  or  dispersing  the 
uncombined  oxygen  and  the  unsocial  nitrogen  far  away 
into  space,  whence  they  may  be  seen  under  proper 
circumstances  hereafter  to  be  explained  as  immense 
trains  of  reflected  light  extended  away  towards  outer 
space. 

But  it  will  now  be  noticed  that  as  this  flvinsf 
globe  or  mass  of  commingled  gas  and  watery  vapor 
recedes  from  the  sun  and  advances  into  cooler  regions, 
a  gradual  contraction  takes  place.  The  dissipated  par- 
ticles, or  atoms,  seek  their  normal  relation  and  when 
they  attain  such  relation  and  come  together  in  their 
native  temperature  there  is  deposited  at  the  center  of 
the  mass  a  new,   strange  and  beautiful  thine, — a  crlobe 


20  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

of  water,  that  has  been  condensed  from  the  watery 
vapor  that  was  formed  from  the  hydrogen  that  was 
snatched  by  the  fugitive  oxygen  from  the  chromos- 
phere !      And  thus  in  the  beginning  water  was    made  ! 

And  now  another  circumstance  may  possibly 
claim  the  attention  of  the  observer  wherever  he  may 
be.  The  gaseous  globe  may  have  approached  the  sun 
by  a  curve  approximating  to  that  of  a  parabola  or  an 
hyperbola.  Its  visit  to  the  sun  being  from  outer 
space,  it  is  not  necessarily  moving  in  a  closed  orbit, 
which  fact  is  apparent  from  its  ascertained  hyperbolic 
course.  But  beyond  a  doubt  it  is  departing  by  the 
curve  of  an  ellipse.  This  is  a  violation  of  positive 
law,  and  why  is  it?  How  is  it  possible?  Let  us 
inquire.  The  gaseous  globe  is  traveling  with  a 
velocity  of  1,000,000  miles  per  hour.  But  instanta- 
neously the  flying  body  effects  a  chemical  combination 
whereby  its  mass  is  increased  and  its  velocity  propor- 
tionately retarded.  This  retardation  would  be  in 
accordance  wdth  the  law  of  physics  which  prescribes 
"that  when  a  moving  body  strikes  a  body  at  rest  and 
the  two  move  on  together  the  ijis  viva  of  the  com- 
bined mass  is  as  many  times  less  than  the  vis  viva  of 
the  first  body  before  impact  as  the  combined  mass  is 
greater  than  the  first." 

In  summarizing  the  special  characteristics  of  com- 
etary  motion.  Dr.  Warren  states  the  following  princi- 
ple, which  is  also  mentioned  in  Chambers'  Encyclo- 
pedia as  a  recognized  law,  viz.:  that  "A  parabolic 
comet  may  become  elliptic,  and  so  permanently 
attracted  to  the  system  by  the  retardations  of  attract- 
ing bodies." 

It  would  seem  to  follow,  therefore,  as  a  require- 
ment of  the  recognized  laws  of  physics  that  this  gas- 
eous body,    approaching  the  sun  by  the  direction  of  an 


THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER.  21 

open  curve,  would,  if  sufficienth-  retarded  in  its 
course,  necessarily  recede  from  the  sun  bv  a  closed 
orbit  and  become  permanently  attached  to  that  system. 
The  sufficiency  of  such  retardation  would  therefore 
depend  upon  the  quantity  of  watery  vapor  formed, 
which  would  again  depend  upon  the  volume  of  hydro- 
gen encountered  and  assimilated. 

If  the  commingled  gas  under  consideration  should 
be  executing  its  first  contactual  sweep  around  the  sun 
its  perihelion  distance  would  probably  be  removed  to 
the  extreme  outer  strata  of  the  chromospheric 
envelope,  and  hence  the  quantity  of  hydrogen 
encountered  and  the  quantity  of  watery  vapor  produced 
would  be  proportionately  small.  In  such  case  the  vis 
viva  would  undergo  less  change  and  the  centripetal 
impulse  would  be  proportionately  moderate.  But 
should  the  body  have  advanced  in  the  curve  of  a  par- 
abola it  would  be  very  likely  to  depart  by  a  curve  of 
less  divergence,  lying  within  that  of  the  parabola  and 
hence  ensuring  the  return  of  the  gas  at  some  future 
time. 

These  .recurrent  revolutions  around  the  sun  would 
be  inevitable  so  long  as  the  altered  velocity  of  the 
body  remained  low  enough  to  bring  its  retreat  within 
the  curve  of  the  parabola.  At  each  perihelion  it 
would  necessarily  approach  nearer  to  the  attracting 
body,  secure  a  greater  accretion  of  its  substance,  a 
gradually  increased  weight  and  suffer  a  greater  retarda- 
tion of  velocity. 

At  this  stage  we  woiild  be  presented  with  the 
phenomena  of  a  globe  or  body  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen 
surrounding  a  nucleus  of  water  whirling  off  through 
space  either  in  an  elongated  elliptical  orbit  or  by  an 
open  curve  ;  in  the  latter  case  practically  independent 
of    the  central  orb  of    the  svsteni    from    the  vicinitv  of 


22  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

which  it  had  emerged.  While  it  remained  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  sun  we  should  expect  to  see  the 
gaseous  body  under  almost  any  and  every  imaginable 
form.  The  weightier  parts  would  necessarily  drop 
towards  the  sun  and  be  held  to  a  prescribed  curve  by 
his  attractive  power  while  its  lighter  portion  still  fur- 
ther rarefied  by  his  heat  would  extend  far  off  into 
space. 

But  this  gaseous  body  is,  of  course,  transparent, 
just  as  our  atmosphere  is  transparent,  and  its 
denser  parts  have  well  defined  refractive  prop- 
erties. The  nucleus  therefore  gathers  up  the  rays  of 
the  sun  and  sends  forth  a  stream  of  focalized  light 
which  serves  to  illuminate  its  dissipated  substance  in 
the  direction  of  the  ray,  which  substance  was  other- 
wise invisible  in  the  diffused  light  of  the  interplane- 
tary realm.  By  the  aid  of  these  focalized  rays,  then 
we  should  expect  to  see  an  illuminated  train  extend- 
ing from  the  refracting  body,  or  nucleus,  as  far  out 
into  space  as  the  energy  of  the  solar  heat  had  suc- 
ceeded in  scattering  the  particles  of  the  enveloping 
gas.  This  column  of  light  would  always,  of  course, 
point  away  from  the  luminous  body  forming  a  line 
passing  thence  through  the  nucleus.  The  diffusion  of 
the  gas,  (susceptible  as  that  form  of  matter  is  of 
indefinite  expansion)  might  be  expected  to  extend  for 
millions  of  miles  in  all  radial  directions  away  from  the 
seat  of  the    solar   energy. 

To  an  observer  upon  our  earth  while  such  a  phe- 
nomenon is  visible  anywhere  in  the  direction  of  the 
sun  (provided  it  is  not  in  the  position  of  a  direct 
line),  this  stream  of  focalized  light  would  present  a 
gradual  curve,  and  for  this  reason  :  The  illuminated 
particles  that  mark  the  train  of  light  by  reflection,  are 
not   all    equally   distant   from   the   point   of  observation. 


THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER.  23 

Light  travels  at  a  speed  of  more  than  180,000  miles 
per  second,  and  hence  in  the  case  of  the  outlying  or 
more  distant  particles  of  the  gas  rendered  visible  hv 
reflection  (as  in  the  case  of  a  comet  having  a  tail  of 
the  moderate  length  of  10,000,000  miles),  the  light 
would  not  reach  the  observer  on  the  earth  for  the 
space  of  almost  a  minute  after  the  time  that  he  had 
actually  received  the  ray  from  the  nucleus.  With  refer- 
ence to  the  nucleus,  therefore,  we  should  never  be 
able  to  see  the  extreme  outlying  portion  of  the  ray  in 
its  real  situation,  but  would  always  see  it  in  the 
direction  of  the  place  it  occupied  one  minute  before. 
Every  point  between  the  nucleus  and  the  extremit\' 
of  the  visible  rav  would  be  similarlv  affected 
in  proportion  to  its  distance  from  the  point  of 
observation,  thus  necessarily  giving  the  ray  a  curved 
appearance  in  the  sky — the  speed  of  the  body  being 
from   5,000   to   20,000  miles  a   minute. 

But  as  the  gaseous  body  recedes  from  the  sun  and 
escapes  into  the  colder  outlying  regions — whence  its 
temperature  falls  and  as  the  necessary  consequence 
its  particles  come  together  and  the  mass  contracts — we 
should  expect  to  observe  a  rapid  yet  gradual  diminu- 
tion in  the  length  of  the  ray  of  light  until  it  should 
nearly   or  entirely   disappear. 

I  am  next  to  inquire  whether  or  not  the  observa- 
tions of  astronomers  point  to  any  heavenly  bodies  that 
correspond  to  this  picture  and  if  so  how  they  have 
hitherto    been    regarded,    accounted   for    and    explained. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

For  all  that  I  know  concerning  the  mysterious 
visitors  we  call  comets  that  occasionally  give  variety 
and    eccentricity     to     the     majesty     of    the    heavens,    I 


24  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  the  many  great 
minds  that  have  given  their  time  and  energies  to  the 
work   of  studying   the   mysteries   of  the   stars. 

Professor  J.  Dorman  Steele  takes  up  the  subject 
of  comets  with  the  frank  admission  that  "their  fiery 
trains ;  the  swiftness  of  their  flight  ;  the  strange  and 
mysterious  forms  they  assume — their  departure  as 
unherald  as  their  advent — all  seem  to  bid  defiance  to 
law  and  to  partake  of  the  marvellous."  Entering 
upon  the  details  of  his  subject  he  further  says  that 
one  peculiarity  of  the  comet  is  that  its  tail  flashes  out 
at  greatest  magnitude  as  it  nears  the  sun  and  dimin- 
ishes as  it  recedes  ;  that  when  the  comet  first  appears 
there  is  no  tail  visible,  but,  as  it  approaches  the  sun 
the  tail  shoots  out  from  the  coma  and  grows  daily  in 
length  and  splendor  ;  that  the  comets  at  their  perihelion 
sweep  very  near  the  .sun,  one  in  1680  having  come 
where  Newton  estimated  the  heat  to  be  2000  times 
that  of  red-hot  iron,  and  executed  its  perihelion  sweep 
at  a  speed  of  a  million  miles  per  hour.  The  comet  of 
1843  had  a  perihelion  distance  from  the  sun  of  only 
30,000  miles  and  doubled    that  body  in   two   hours. 

Dr.  Warren  in  his  "Recreations,"  (in  which  he 
acknowledged  his  indebtedness  to  a  number  of  men 
eminent  in  science  for  the  facts  which  he  has  col- 
lected), says  that  the  unsolved  problems  pertaining  to 
comets  are  very  numerous  and  exceedingly  delicate  ; 
that  the  conditions  of  matter  with  which  we  are 
acquainted  do  not  cover  the  ground  presented  by 
comets  ;  that  they  are  clouds  of  gas  and  shine  by 
reflected    light. 

Sir  Robert  Ball,  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
in  speaking  of  comets  makes  the  following  observa- 
tions which  I  summarize  :  They  visit  us,  we  hardly 
know  from    whence,   except  that  it  is  from   outer  space. 


THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER.  25 

They  are  always  changing  their  appearance  in  a 
baffling  bnt  still  fascinating  manner.  If  an  artist 
tries  to  draw  a  comet  he  will  hardly  have  finished  his 
picture  of  it  in  one  robe  before  he  finds  it  arrayed  in 
another.  The  astronomer  has  also  his  complaint  to 
make  against  comets.  We  can  thoroughly  rely  upon 
the  movements  of  the  planets,  but  the  comets  often  play 
sad  pranks  with  our  calculations.  They  sometimes 
take  us  by  surprise  and  blaze  out  just  when  we  do 
not  expect  them  ;  then  by  way  of  compensation  they 
frequently  disappoint  us  by  not  appearing  when  they 
have  been  most  anxiously  looked  for.  They  sweep 
around  the  sun  at  a  speed  one  thousand  times  faster 
than  the  swiftest  rifle  bullet.  That  a  drawing  of  a 
comet  is  wholly  useless  for  the  purpose  of  identifica- 
tion—  "as  well  try,"  he  says,  "to  identify  a  cloud  or 
puff  of  smoke."  Its  movements  are  so  erratic  that 
it  frequently  becomes  entangled  with  other  heavenly 
bodies  and  quite  loses  all  claim  to  identity.  Conclud- 
ing he  says  :  "Generally  speaking,  great  comets  come 
to   us   once  and   are   never  seen   as^ain." 

Dr.  Schellen  says  that  the  physical  constitution 
of  comets  has  presented  greater  difficulties  to  the 
astronomer  than  even  that  of  the  nebuke.  When  they 
first  become  visible  their  motion  is  evidentlv  around 
the  sun,  and  frequently  in  orbits  of  such  great  elonga- 
tion as  hardly  to  be  called  elliptical  ;  traveling, 
besides,  in  all  possible  planes  and  directions.  Sev- 
eral move  in  closed  orbits  around  the  sun  with 
generally  fixed  period  of  revolution  ;  others  come 
unexpectedly  from  the  regions  of  space  into  our 
system  and  retreat  again  to  be  seen  no  more.  At 
perihelion  they  sometimes  pass  so  close  to  the  sun  as 
"almost  to  graze  its  surface."  The  influence  exer- 
cised   on   the   formation  of  the    tail   ]))•   its  approach   to 


26  THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

the  sun   was   vSliowii   in   the   case   of  the   comet   of   i860, 
for    at     its     perihelion     it     traveled     at     the    speed    of 
i,2i6,<Soo    miles    per    hour    and    as    a    consequence    put 
forth    a   tail,    in   two   days,    54,000,000   miles   in    length. 

Biela's  comet  about  the  time  of  performing  one  of 
its  perihelion  sweeps  around  the  sun,  in  1846,  became 
separated  into  two  parts  which  retreated  into  space  by 
the  same  orbit  but  separated  by  a  distance  of  200,000 
miles.  When  it  returned  in  1S52  the  parts  had 
receded  to  the  distance  of  1,500,000  miles  apart.  It 
was  never  seen  again  although  its  periodic  time 
would  have  required  its  return  to  perihelion  in  1859 
and  again  in  1866.  "It  seems,"  says  Dr.  Schellen, 
"that  it  has  been  drawn  out  of  its  orbit  or  passed 
into   some   other  form   of  existence." 

For  thirty-five  years  Professor  Dubleau,  of  the 
Pohtechnic,  in  Paris,  has  made  the  study  of  comets 
a  specialty.  In  a  recent  lecture  he  declared  that  all 
ideas  and  theories  heretofore  advanced  touching  the 
subject  of  comets,  are  more  or  less  erroneous.  That 
comets  have  no  periodic  time  and  that  predictions  of 
their  return  at  such  and  such  a  time,  are  of  no  value. 
He  leans  towards  the  belief  that  the  nucleus  is  a 
mass  of  highly  heated  matter,  but  has  convinced  him- 
self that  the  tail  is  due  to  light  reflected  from  the 
detached  particles  of  the  comet  by  the  "combustion" 
of  the  necleus. 

On  the  other  hand.  Dr.  Schellen  shows  that  the 
nucleus  is  always  transparent  and  is  generally  affected 
both  in  size  and  densitv  h\  its  approach  to  the  sun. 
"It  might  be  expected,"  he  savs,  "that  the  coma  in 
approaching  the  sun  would  expand  and  l)ecome  rare- 
fied b)'  extreme  heat,  l)ut  as  in  the  case  of  the 
nucleus,   exactly  the  reverse  has  often  been  observed." 

Donati's  comet  measured  on  the  first   of   vSeptember, 


THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER.  27 

1858,  13,894  miles  in  diameter,  while  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  the  same  month,  at  its  nearer  approach 
to  the  snn,  its  diameter  had  decreased  to  1526  miles. 
The  like  phenomenon  was  observed  in  the  comet  of 
1843,  the  nucleus  of  which  was  almost  exhausted  at 
perihelion  while  the  tail  shone  with  greatest   splendor. 

Kepler  remarked  that  there  are  as  many  "comets 
in  the  heavens  as  fish  in  the  sea,''  and  Arago  has 
estimated  that  there  are  17,500,000  comets  in  our  solar 
system. 

As  to  the  composition  of  comets  there  is  no 
agreement  among  astronomers  and  but  little  expres- 
sion of  opinion  by  any  men  of  authority  in  science. 
The  presence  of  oxygen,  nitrogen,  hydrogen  and  car- 
bon, has  been  detected  as  the  result  of  recent  observa- 
tions. Dr.  Schellen  thinks  they  are  composed  of 
matter  in  a  gaseous  condition  of  extreme  tenuity  and 
that  they  shine  by  reflected  light.  The  researches  of 
Arago  have  satisfied  him  that  comets  are  not  self- 
luminous,  but  that  they  shine  by  reflected  sunlight. 
This  he  shows  by  their  light  being  partially  polarized  ; 
and  the  same  conclusion  has  been  reached  bv  other 
observers  who  have  examined  the  spectra  of  some  of 
the  more  brilliant  of  recent  comets.  It  is  also  true 
that  we  find  the  contrary  opinion  entertained  by  a  few 
scientists  of  note,  but  in  every  case  there  seems  to  be 
a  reliance  upon  the  probable,  suggested  by  reasoning 
a  posteriori  rather  than  upon  facts  obtained  as  the 
result  of  experimental  or  other  investigations.  The 
weight  of  opinion,  however,  is  very  decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  theory  of  reflected  light.  There  are  reliable 
accounts  of  stars  of  even  a  low  order  of  mairnitude 
being  seen  through  the  nuclei,  while  stars  seen  through 
the  matter  of  the  tail  suffer  no  diminution  of 
brisjhtness. 


28  THE    GENESIS   OF    WATER. 

The  sum  of  all  observations  hitherto  made  upon 
cometary  phenomena  gives  the  following  general 
result : 

I — That  the  density  of  the  nucleus  is  very 
inconsiderable,  corresponding  to  matter  in  a  gaseous 
state  while  the  tail  corresponds  to  matter  in  an 
almost  inconceivable  state  of  tenuity. 

2 — That  as  they  approach  the  sun  and  come  within 
the  influence  of  the  solar  heat,  the  nucleus  diminishes 
in  apparent  size  and  the  tail  correspondingly  increases 
in  size  and  brilliancy,  and  the  reverse  order  of  change 
appears  in  proportion  as  they  recede  from  the    sun. 

3 — That  they  may  approach  the  sun  by  the  curve 
of  an  hyperbola  (an  open  curve),  and  recede  by  the 
curve  of  an  ellipse  (a  closed  curve. ) 

4 — That    at    perihelion    they    sometimes    sweep    so 
near  the  sun  as  necessarily  to  pass  through    the    outer  • 
regions  of  the  chromosphere. 

5 — That  they  sweep  among  the  planets  of  our 
solar  system  at  such  distances  that  we  are  compelled 
to  believe  that  the  latter  are  actually  brushed,  if  not 
indeed  quite  enveloped,  in  the  luminous  matter  that 
composes  the   tail. 

6 — That  contact  of  cometary  matter  actually  took 
place  in  the  case  of  our  globe  in  i860  and  in  the  case 
of  Jupiter  and  his  satellites  in  1770  and  again  in  1866 
but  without  producing  any  more  apparent  effect  upon 
the  motions  of  either  planet  or  upon  those  of  their 
satellites  than  would  have  been  caused  by  a  burst  of 
moonlight. 

7 — That  the  comet  of  1770  when  last  seen,  was 
tangled  up  among  the  moons  of  Ju])iter  whence  it  was 
never  seen   to  emerge. 

8 — That  the  last  and  most  authoritative  observations 


THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER.  29 

upon  the  nature  of  cometary  light  show  that  it  is 
reflected  sunlio^ht. 

9 — That  comets  travel  throu.Q^h  space  indiscrim- 
inately in  open  or  closed  curves  and  in  every  conceiv- 
able plane,  and  are  not  in  particular  instances  perma- 
nently identified  with  anv  solar  system. 

10 — That  different  comets  are  often  differently 
constituted,  some  of  them  beinf^  found  to  contain  car- 
bon in  the  form  of  ethylene  g-as,  and  other  substances 
not  discoverable  in  comets  generally. 

With  such  constitution  and  characteristics  it  now 
only  remains  to  trace  the  points  of  connection  or 
analogy  between  our  primordial  gases  and  the  myster- 
ious comet  to  see  whether  we  may  find  at  one  and 
the  same  time  the  interpretation  of  a  mystery  in 
Nature  and  the  evidence  of  infinite  wisdom  and 
infinite  and   bencficieut  desig-n. 


CHAPTER   V. 

When  we  last  viewed  the  progress  of  our  gaseous 
globe,  it  was  in  full  retreat  from  the  sun  and  bear- 
ing awa\'  from  the  dominion  of  his  sovereign  majesty, 
a  cloud  of  hydrogen,  which,  in  its  moments  of  perihel- 
ion frenzy,  it  assimilated  by  the  process  of  chemical 
combination — changing  it  into  watery  vapor.  Its  center 
of  gravity,  its  specific  weight  and  orbital  velocity,  had 
undergone  such  a  prodigious  change  at  the  instant  of 
combination  that  a  retreat  by  the  curve  of  a  parabola 
(or  that  by  which  it  approached  its  perihelion)  had 
become  an  impossibility  without,  at  the  same  time,  a 
corresponding  change  in  the  centripetal  power  of  the 
sun. 

Fleeing,   therefore,   into  space,   whether  bv  a  closed 
or  open  curve,   and  from  a    position    within    the    orbits 


30  THE   CxENESIS   OF   WATER. 

of  all  the  planets,  it  would  necessarily  be  compelled 
to  cross  the  orbit  of  each  of  these  in  order  to  effect 
its  escape  into  sidereal  space.  In  such  an  eccentric 
career,  there  would  be  ver\'  evident  reason  to  look 
for  a  collision  with  some  of  the  planets.  Upon  the 
doctrine  of  chance  such  a  collision  would  be  inevitable 
in  time,  even  in  the  case  of  moving  bodies  unaffected 
bv  attraction  ;  but  if  we  add  to  the  probability  of 
such  collision  bv  bare  chance,  the  operation  of  the 
principle  of  mutual  attraction,  the  prospects  of  a 
collision  will  be  proportionatelv  orreater. 

Suppose,  now,  that  we  consider  as  established  the 
dual  principle  of  physical  aoforre^ation,  that  has  been 
suggested,  what  results  might  we  expect  as  the  neces- 
sary consequence  of  such  collision  ? 

Before  answering  this  question  in  terms,  let  it 
be  assumed  that  the  evolutionary  plan  of  world- 
building  had  produced  an  incandescent  globe  or  sun, 
in  which  there  is  no  trace  of  oxvgen  or  nitrogen, 
nor  any  manifestation  of  the  presence  of  either  of 
these  elements.  This  sun  has  thrown  off  a  planet, 
"  flesh  of  its  flesh,"  which  is,  therefore,  destitute  of 
oxygen  ?s  well  as  of  nitrogen,  and  which  soon  takes 
up  an  independent  course  about  its  parent  sun.  It 
remains  a  glowing  mass  for  ages,  discharging  at  length 
a  satellite  from  its  surface,  precisely  as  it  was  itself 
cast  off.  This  last  offspring  in  like  manner  takes  up 
its  course  around  the  planet,  meanwhile  radiating  its 
vitality  into  space.  These  rotating  bodies  gradually 
contract  until  this  mutual  process  has  at  length  placed 
vast  distances  between  them.  The  satellite  has  at 
length  receded  to  the  distance  of  240,000  miles  from 
its  immediate  parent,  while  the  latter  is  distant 
90,000,000  of  miles  from  the  sun.  A  point  of  time  is 
at  last  reached  in   the  course  of  this  ceaseless  whirling 


THK    GRNEvSIS   OF    WAPKR.  3 1 

march  when  the  heat  of  the  smaller  globe  or  satellite 
is  nearly  exhausted  and  its  lires  extinguished,  except 
at  a  few  volcanic  points,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
planet  has  become  a  glowing  mass  of  red,  molten, 
mineral  substances,  but  now  no  longer  of  that  high 
temperature  which  impels  hydrogen  flames  into  the 
surrounding    ether. 

At  such  point  of  time  the  Sovereign  Command 
once  more  rang  through  the  primeval  desolation  and 
ordained  that  the  conditions  of  life  come  forth,  and 
thereupon  a  w^andering  globe  of  water,  formed  as  we 
have  seen — in  other  words  a  comet,  in  its  erratic  course, 
— is  cast  upon  the  glowing  bosom  of  the  planet.  If 
the  collision  takes  place  during  the  headlong  sweep  of 
the  comet  toward  the  sun  the  nucleus  ma\-  at  such 
time  be  a  frozen  mass,  containing  the  water  produced 
at  its  preceding  visits  to  the  solar  atmosphere  in  the 
form  of  ice  ;  but  should  the  contact  happen  at  the 
time  of  its  retreat  from  the  sun,  the  precipitation 
would  doubtless  be  a  deluge  of  water  proportionate  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  comet.  In  either  case  a  new 
and  wonderful  agenc\'  would  be  thrown  into  active, 
energetic  life.  Chemical  combinations  would  begin  to 
form.  New  compounds  would  be  dragged  forth.  The 
hungry,  omnivorous  ox\-geu  would  seize  almost  ever\- 
form  of  matter  with  which  it  came  in  contact.  Potas- 
sium, calcium,  sodium,  and  nearly  all  the  rest  of  the 
minerals  would  rush  to  the  embrace  of  the  newlv- 
found  affinity  and  mineral  salts  and  rocks  of  various 
kinds  would  in  due  course  of  time  be  formed  and 
assume   consistency. 

The  ice,  or  water  as  the  case  may  be,  is  con- 
verted into  steam,  and  the  phenomena  of  water\- 
vapor  issuing  forth  from  the  bosom  of  the  planet,  the 
formation  of  clouds  and   the   falling  of  rain   are  seen  for 


32  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

the  first  time  ;  but  there  is  only  the  eye  of  Omnipo- 
tence to  look  upon  the  scene — unless  it  happen  that 
somewhere  an  older  planet  has  passed  through  all  this 
experience  and  produced  the  being  man,  a  creature  of 
which  order  may,  perhaps,  at  the  moment,  contem- 
plate the  whole  panorama  from  an  outlaying  planet, 
by   the  aid  of  his  telescope. 

But  here  we  have  found  a  noble  use  for  the 
hitherto  ornamental  but  worse  than  useless  comet. 
The  nebular  hypothesis  fails  to  account  for  its  pres- 
ence in  our  solar  system  ;  but  here  we  have  seen  how 
it  may  have  been  captured  in  the  course  of  its  vaga- 
bond flight,  placed  in  an  orbit  from  which  escape  was 
impossible  and  ultimately  applied  to  a  necessary  use 
in  the  course  of  the  creative   scheme. 

It  was  the  plan  of  the  Creator  in  the  fulness  of 
time  to  extinguish  the  fires  of  His  planets,  and  the 
comets  are,  and  have  been  from  the  beginning.  His 
water-bearers.  Another  and  another  of  these  bodies, 
of  varying  volumes,  may  have  been  necessary,  and 
these  may  have  been  launched  successively  upon  the 
heated  mineral  mass  until  the  work  of  superficial 
cooling  was  completed  ;  or  one  may  have  sufficed. 
Indeed,  the  quantity  of  water  upon  the  earth  com- 
pared with  its  mineral  mass,  is  so  very  small  that  a 
comet  of  the  apparent  dimensions  of  Donati's  might 
contain  sufficient  water  to  supply  all  the  demands  of 
our  terrestrial  oceans.  This  at  first  sight  may  seem 
improbable,  but  actual  calculation  has  shown  that  if 
an  orange  be  dipped  in  a  vessel  of  water  and  with- 
drawn again,  the  quantity  of  water  that  clings  to  its 
surface  will  bear  about  the  same  proportion  to  its 
mass  that  all  the  waters  of  the  oceans  bear  to  the 
mass  of  the  terrestrial  globe. 

But   it  does  not  follow  that   the   fires  of  the   planet 


THE  gknp:sis  ok  water.  33 

1)eing  extiiit^uishccl  there  could  ])e  no  further  conietarv 
precipitatioH.  The  liability  to  other  or  further  collis- 
ions continues  unimpaired. 

Nor  are  we  compelled  to  stop  here  in  the  course 
of  reasonable  speculation.  ''  All  life  proceeds  from 
life"  is  the  maxim  of  the  biologist.  But  an  incan- 
descent fylobe,  in  its  very  nature  and  condition,  neo^a- 
tives  every  presumption  of  the  possibility  of  associated 
oro-anic  life.  Such  possibility  could  not  exist  where 
water  is  not  present,  and  much  less  so  under  expos- 
ure to  the  temperature  of  the  incandescent  stage  of 
planetary  existence.  But  as  the  conditions  necessary 
to  life  can  exist  only  where  water  is  to  be  found,  it 
would  follow  as  an  essential  requirement  that  if  w'ater 
descended  originally  through  the  vehicle  of  a  comet, 
bv  the  same  vehicle  and  at  the  same  time  came  the 
primordial  life  germ. 

This  would  reasonablv  lead  to  the  further  sugges- 
tion that  somewhere,  at  .some  point  or  period  of  time 
in  the  course  of  its  flight  through  space,  the  comet 
had,  or  became  possessed  of,  the  primordial  cell  or 
germ    of    organic    being. 

But  the  problem  that  is  here  presented  is  not 
that  of  the  ultimate  origin  of  life,  but  only  the  question 
of  the  transferrence  of  the  already  existing  germ  by 
which  the  phenomena  of  manifested  life  became  pos- 
sible upon  the  planetary  worlds.  With  this  limitation, 
the  inquiry  is  one  that  comes  wnthin  the  domain  of 
legitimate  speculation.  But  this  branch  of  our  subject 
will    lie    further    considered   in   the   concluding   chapter. 

My  theory,  besides  accounting  for  the  phenomena 
of  comets  and  emphasizing  the  great  principle  of 
intelligent  design  in  the  creative  plan,  goes  yet  further 
and  explains  terrestrial  and  planetary  phenomena  that 
luu'e  hitherto  baffled  every  effort  at  logical  elucidation. 


34  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

In  this  direction  I  will  refer  first  to  the  glacial  period 
of  the  earth's  history  and  will  introduce  this  phase 
of  these  investigations  by  a  quotation  from  our  great 
Winchell  : 

He  says:  "The  glacial  period  was  introduced 
b\-  a  change  in  the  temperature  of  the  latitudes 
affected.  The  cause  of  the  change  remains  an  unsolved 
problem,  but  whatever  may  have  caused  the  glaciers, 
the  reality  of  the  glacial  period  cannot  be  questioned." 
He  says,  further,  that  the  northern  portions  of  the 
continent  lay  buried  beneath  a  mass  of  snow  and  ice 
many  thousands  of  feet  in  thickness.  "So  suddenly 
came  the  change  in  temperature  that  the  long-haired 
elephant  of  Siberia  and  Alaska  were  overwhelmed  and 
buried  in  herds  to  remain  entombed  until  the  age  of 
man." 

Now  how  verv  easv  it  l^ecomes  to  account  for  this 
sudden  calamity  by  the  theory  of  cometary  precipita- 
tion. A  globe  or  body  of  water  descending  from 
outer  space  at  the  zero  of  temperature  would  neces- 
sarily form  a  mass  of  ice  until  it  should  reach  the 
atmosphere  of  the  earth,  whence,  until  it  should  reach 
the  surface  of  the  earth  (by  reason  of  the  resistance  of 
the  atmosphere  and  thereafter  bv  the  impact  of  col- 
lision), it  would  undergo  a  process  of  liquefaction  or 
partial  melting.  But  much  of  the  mass  would  remain 
as  ice,  and  that  portion  that  might  be  melted  in  its 
descent  would  soon  congeal  again  ;  for  should  the 
comet  be  on  its  advance  toward  perihelion  it  would 
bring  with  it  from  outer  space  a  degree  of  cold  nowhere 
else  possible  upon  the  earth.  The  process  of  reaching 
an  equalization  of  temperature  would  necessarily  begin 
at  the  moment  at  which  the  comet  should  enter  the 
terrestrial  domain  and  would  continue  until  the  whole 
mass   should    be    converted    into    water.  This   process 


THE    GHNKSIS    OF    WATp:r.  35 

niitrht  require  Llie  lapse  of  aij;es  of  time  during  which 
period  the  temperature  of  the  affected  region  would 
fall  so  low  as  to  make  the  conditions  necessary  for 
the  maintenance  of  organic  life  practicall\  impossible 
there.  And  this  is  just  what  would  seem  to  have 
taken  place  in  the  north.  The  earth  has  not  yet 
recovered  from  the  effects  of  that  visitation,  and  the 
reservinr  of  absolute  cold  lannched  upon  its  surface 
from  outer  space  still  holds  a  vast  region  of  the  north 
temperate  zone  in  an  icy  bath.  Not  onh'  came  the 
water  to  abide,  and  in  time  to  replenish  the  earth, 
but  the  chill\-  breath'  of  cosmic  space  came  also  in  its 
embrace,  and  remains  to  temper  and  perhaps  to  purify 
and    in   due    time   equalize. 

But  if  we  suppose  that  the  comet  was  pursuing  its 
outward  course  from  the  sun  at  the  time  of  the 
contact,  other  and  different  consequences  might  reason- 
ably be  expected.  Instead  of  ice  a  deluge  of  water 
would  be  cast  upon  the  earth  ;  and  if  we  can  place 
reliance  upon  universal  tradition,  such  visitations 
upon  the  earth  are  well  attested.  Hence,  with  tradi- 
tion as  universal  as  the  human  race  to  attest  the  inun- 
dation of  the  earth  at  various  points  by  waters  from 
an  unknown  source,  upon  the  one  hand,  and  by  the 
glacial  •  period  and  the  preserved  bodies  of  extinct 
species  of  mammals  that  still  lie  entombed  in  the 
northern  glaciers  (that  must  have  perished  by  thous- 
ands in  a  da)),  upon  the  other,  we  have  a  problem 
that  indicates  a  disastrous  water\-  precipitation  upon  the 
earth,  but  from  what  source,  or  by  what  law,  has  never 
hitherto  been   shown. 

Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  influence  of  the 
glacial  period  upon  the  temperature  of  the  earth  when 
the  era  of  equalization  shall  close,  the  earth  has  gained 
much   from    the    attrition   of  the   icy  mass,    according   to 


36  THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

the  teachings  of  modeni  geologists,  and  hence 
another  link  is  added  to  the  great  chain  of  intelligent 
design.  "But  meanwhile  the  vital  heat  of  the  earth 
has  been  drawn  upon  for  ages  in  order  to  temper  the 
frosty  influence  of  this  visitor  from  space,  and  aided 
b\-  the  solar  ravs  has  in  a  measure  relieved  the  afflicted 
region  which  may  yet,  in  time,  regain  a  temperature 
sufficiently  moderate  to  restore  other  flocks  and  herds 
to  the  valleys  and  the  plains  where  the  mastodon  and 
his  contemporary  mammals  perished  before  the  time 
that  man   appeared  upon    the    earth.  • 

The  conclusion  reached  in  the  foregoing  pages 
is  rendered  further  probable  bv  the  observations 
recorded  of  the  comet  of  1770.  This  comet  was  seen 
to  enter  among  the  moons  of  Jupiter  but  was  never 
seen  to  emerge  thence,  notwithstanding  it  was  care- 
fuUv  and  intelligentlv  observed  and  studied  until  it 
was  no  longer  visible  there  or  elsewhere.  Astrono- 
mers have  been  much  puzzled  to  account  for  this.  By 
assuming  as  a  fact  established  that  it  must  have 
extricated  itself  from  Jupiter's  influence,  there  is  no 
lack  of  argument,  or  of  theory,  on  the  part  of  certain 
eminent  astronomers  to  explain  whither  it  fled  and 
under  what  circustances  and  where  it  was  subse- 
quently seen  in  a  new  orbit,  coursing  in  a  different 
plane.  But  all  the  explanation  off"ered  is  wanting  in 
the  essential  of  foundation,  as  the  observed  comet  which 
has  been  regarded  as  the  one  captured  by  Jupiter  has 
neither  the  size,  appearance,  orbit,  plane,  nor  period 
of  that   which    was   lost. 

Above  all  the  fact  remains  not  only  admitted,  but 
established  bv  close  observation,  that  the  comet  was 
seen  to  enter  the  precincts  of  the  family  mansion  of 
Jupiter  and  that  it  never  has  been  seen  since.  It  is 
needless  to  add   that   niv   deduction   is   that   it    remained 


THK    GENKSIS   OK    WATKR.  37 

there  and  is  now  participatin.t^  in  the  o;reat  work  ol 
C!X)ling  off  the  niiohty  mass  of  Jupiter  and  preparinj^ 
him  to  become  in  his  appointed  time  the  seat  of  mani- 
fested life  and  ultimately  of  human  intelligence  and 
endeavor  under  the  protecting  and  guiding  hand  of 
Omnipotence. 

CHAPTER   VI. 

It  may  reasonably  be  claimed  for  the  conclusions 
reached  in  the  preceding  chapters  that  they  are,  at 
least,  a  legitimate  deduction  from  facts  and  phenomena 
at  once  generally  conceded  and  accepted.  For  any  of 
the  purposes  of  this  research,  experimentation  in  the 
realm  of  physical  science  were  unnecessary  in  view  of 
the  recorded  achievements  of  the  great  minds  of  this 
and  other  ages  and  of  many  lands  that  supply  abun- 
dant  scientific   data   for   the   use   of  the   investigator. 

It  is  contended  in  support  of  the  whole  theory 
now  advanced  that  the  conclusions  reached  in  the 
foregoing  chapter  are  firmly  rooted  in  ascertained 
scientific  truths  as  the  same  are  given  to  and  accepted 
bv  the  scientific  world — leaving  the  reader  to  determine 
for  himself  the  justice  of  this  claim. 

But  something  remains  to  be  said  ;  and  in  that 
which  is  to  follow  there  will  be  a  departure  to  some 
extent  from  the  method  and  authority  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made.  In  order  to  complete  this  work 
upon  a  sufficiently  comprehensive  plan,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  indulge  a  brief  course  of  speculation  in 
a  direction  toward  which  exact  science  has  not 
ventured  to  lead  the  wa\-.  Knowing  how  very  small 
is  the  measure  of  indulgence  that  can  be  accorded 
in  such  case,  only  a  very  little  will  be  asked  or 
expected. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  origin   of  life  upon 


38  THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

this  planet.  With  the  ultimate  origin  of  life  these 
pages  have  not  the  least  thing  to  do.  That  were  a 
question  too  deep  for  philosophy  ;  a  problem  that 
must  inevitably  leave  the  presumptuous  investigator 
stranded  upon  the  shores  of  the  Infinite.  But  in 
referring  to  the  fact  of  the  first  appearance  of  organic 
life  upon  the  earth,  we  may  recognize  a  topic  of  great 
interest  as  well  as  a  subject  of  legitimate  inquirv. 
Whence  came  that  life  ? 

"  Oiniic  viv?i!n  ex  vivo! "  exclaims  the  biologist  ; 
and  when  he  proclaims  as  his  scientific  creed  that  life 
can  proceed  only  from  antecedent  life  he  declares  a 
scientific  principle  at  once   far-reaching   and   suggestive. 

There  must  have  been  a  time  in  the  course  of  the 
world  periods  at  which  we  have  glanced  when  neither 
organic  life  nor  even  the  least  of  its  essential  conditions 
was  at  all  possible,  or  present  upon  the  earth.  Still 
we  find  ourselves  in  a  world  palpitating  with  life. 
The  earth,  the  sea  and  the  air  teem  with  an  indescrib- 
able profusion  of  busy,  struggling  life.  It  is^  but  it 
zvas  not !  Whence  came  this  all-per\^ading  life  ? 
Whence  came  the  primordial  germ,  if  we  may  concede 
organic  evolution  from  the  cell  or  germ  ?  At  what 
point  or  period  of  time  and  by  what  means  came  the 
parent  germ  ?  The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to 
answer  these  questions  without  losing  sight  of  the 
reasonable  demand  of  the  biologist — that  life  be  shown  to 
proceed  always   from   antecedent  life. 

The  life  germ  is  infinitesimally  minute.  It  is 
everywhere  diffused  in  the  waters,  in  the  lower  strata 
of  the  atmosphere  and  perhaps  also  in  the  intermediate 
and  higher.      It   is,    moreover,    practicalh-  indestructible. 

These  positions  are  well  attested  h\  the  experi- 
ments of  Dr.  Bastian  and  Professor  Tyndall.  The 
former  having  repeatedly   boiled   vegetal)le    infusions    so 


THE    GENESIS   OF    WATER.  39 

as  to  destroy,  (as  he  supposed),  all  the  life  or  animal- 
cular  therms  and  then  hermetically  sealed  up  the 
boiled  product  in  glass  v^essels,  the  air  inside  of  which 
had  been  for  hours  exposed  to  the  temperature  of 
boiling  water  the  further  to  insure  the  destruction  of 
any  contained  germs,  always  discovered  the  myriad 
animalcular  life  in  the  sealed  vessel  after  the  lapse  of 
a  few  days. 

These  experiments  led  Dr.  Hastian  to  announce  as 
an  ascertained  scientific  truth  that  life  springs  spon- 
taneously from  matter  under  proper  conditions  and  not 
necessarily  from  antecedent  life.  I>ut  Professor  Tyn- 
dall,  holding  as  a  logical  sequence  that  life  can  pro- 
ceed only  from  life,  demonstrated  the  truth  of  his 
hypothesis. 

The  experiments  of  Profes.sor  T\ndall  and  his  fol- 
lowers in  this  field  of  iuquir\-  prove  ver)-  conclusiveh- 
that  only  by  a  process  of  filtration  of  the  air  contained 
in  the  sealed  vessels  and  its  exposure  to  a  tempera- 
Lure  much  higher  than  that  of  boiling  water,  could 
the  animalcular  life  be  destroyed. 

The  experiments  of  Dr.  Dallinger  demonstrated 
that  the  life  germ  which  Dr.  Bastian  supposed  he  had 
destroyed  by  the  agency  of  heat,  through  the  process 
of  boiling  the  vegetable  infusion,  was  quite  unaffected 
by  the  temperature  of  boiling  water  and  that  it  could 
withstand  a  far  greater  exposure  to  high    temperature. 

As  the  result  of  this  series  of  experiments  it  was 
shown  that  all  ordinarv  means  of  ridding  the  air  of 
animalcular  germs  were  utterly  unavailing ;  that  onh 
by  the  exercise  of  extraordinary  care  and  skill  and  the 
operation  of  a  special  process  of  filtration  could  the  work 
of  expelling  the  invisible  germ  be  effected  at  all  ;  but 
it  was  also  shown  that  by  the  exercise  of  great  care 
and  skill   to   that  end   the  germ   could    be    excluded    and 


40  THE   GENESIS   OF  WATER. 

that  the  infusion  would  fail  to  develop  life.  The 
experiment  of  Dr.  Bastian  as  thus  modified  was 
repeatedly  tested  and  a:lways  failed  to  develop  living 
organisms  in   the   infusion. 

Thus  the  triad  principle  was  established  upon  a 
sound  scientific  and  experimental  basis,  viz.:  That 
the  invisible  animalcular  germ  exists  everywhere 
throughout  the  air  with  which  we  come  in  contact 
and  is  practically  inseparable  from  it  ;  that  it  is  not 
materially  affected  b>'  a  degree  of  temperature  high 
enough  to  prove  destructive  of  animal  forms  and  func- 
tions and  always  develops  living  organisms  under  pro- 
per conditions;  that  living  organisms  do  not  develop 
spontaneously. 

At  this  point  a  digression  becomes  necessary,  in 
order  to  call  attention  to  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  scien- 
tific research,  the  determinations  of  which  are  essential 
to   this   inquirv. 

Physical  science  has  shown  in  various  ways  that 
heat  is  a  condition  of  force  and  that  heat  and  force 
are  convertible,  or,  in  other  words,  that  heat  is 
convertible   into  force   and  vice  versa. 

Bu'.  chemical  combination  as  well  as  material 
solidification  is  always  the  manifestation  of  force 
operating  between  the  molecules  of  a  substance  ;  from 
which  it  follows  that  matter  is  always  a  storehouse  of 
force,  or  energy.  This,  however,  is  only  to  say,  in 
other  words,  that  the  molecules  of  a  substance  are 
bound  together  bv  heat.  Hence,  we  correctly  infer 
that  the  quantit>'  of  heat  in  a  body,  or  the  degree  of 
temperature  necessarv  to  effect  and  maintain  its  chem- 
ical combination,  or  its  normal  elementary  constitu- 
tion, is  a  factor  of  great  importance   in   this   connection. 

Thus,  to  s])ecif\-  instances,  we  observe  that  the 
temperature  at    which   one   substance   will    pass   into    the 


THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER.  41 

fluid  State  may  cause  comparatively  slight  disturbance 
among  the  molecules  of  another,  while  it  may  dissipate 
the  molecules  of  a  third  substance  which  is  differently 
constituted,  into  the  gaseous  form.  The  normal  tem- 
perature of  its  environment,  therefore,  is  the  measure 
of  the  quantity  of  heat  that  a  substance  may  be  said 
to  contain  ;  and  the  condition  of  any  substance  as  to 
its  molecular  disturbance  at  such  temperature  is  the 
measure  of  the  thermic  influence  to  which  it  is 
ordinarily  subjected.  If  the  temperature  be  raised,  the 
tendency  of  the  molecules  is  to  separate,  whereby  the 
solid  will  gradually  pass  into  the  liquid  and  thence 
into  the  gaseous  form. 

In  this  process  it  is  plain  that  the  changing  sub- 
stance has  not  parted  with  any  of  its  combining  heat, 
but  rather  that  a  superabundance  of  heat  has  des- 
troyed, for  the  moment,  that  normal  equilibrium 
among  the  molecules  which  fixes  the  character  or  state 
that  we  recognize  as  the  normal  condition  of  the  sub- 
stance affected. 

We  further  know  that  in  every  such  case,  if  the 
temperature  be  gradually  lowered,  the  dissipated  sub- 
stance may  be  made  to  pass  from  the  gaseous  again 
through  the  fluid  to  the  solid  state.  In  this  reverse 
order  the  substance  will  have  lost  the  superfluous  heat 
by  radiation. 

This  consideration  brings  us  back  to  the  point 
where  we  observed  the  mass  of  matter  in  a  condition 
of  apparent  quiescence,  at  the  normal  temperature  of 
its  environment.  But,  however  quiescent  it  indisput- 
ably is,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  it  is 
still  endowed  with  the  heat  or  energy  of  combination, 
or  of  elementary  constitution  ;  that  every  molecule  is 
held  in  place  by  heat — force. 

If,   now,    instead  of  subjecting   the    quiescent    mass 


42  THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

to  the  influence  of  superabundant  heat  in  order  to 
effect  its  molecular  disturbance,  we  should  start  it 
forth  in  the  opposite  direction,  or  that  of  the  zero  of 
temperature,  a  new  question  will  be  presented.  If  the 
substance  should  be  subjected  to  the  influence  of  the 
absolute  zero  of  temperature,  what  would  become  of 
its  combining  heat  ?  We  know  from  experience  and 
observation  that  exposure  to  very  low  temperature 
renders  normally  solid  bodies  brittle,  which  fact  is  due 
to  the  radiation  of  their  essential,  heat.  The  break- 
ing or  crumbling  tools  of  the  northern  wood-worker, 
furnishes  a  familiar  instance  of  this  phenomenon  when 
the  mercury  falls  15°    to  20°    below  zero. 

But,  in  the  direction  toward  which  this  inquiry 
now  tends,  actual  experiment  cannot  carry  us  very 
far,  because  the  absolute  zero  of  temperature  cannot 
exist,  or  be  produced,  upon  the  earth,  since  force,  or 
heat,  holds  all  the  molecules  of  terrestrial  matter 
together.  But  while  this  is  unquestionably  true,  (and 
I  have  not  lost  sight  of  the  experiments,  hopes  and 
expectations  of  Professor  Dewar  to  prove  the  contrary), 
and  while  it  is  moreover  true  that  the  absolute  zero 
of  temperature,  literally  considered,  cannot  be  said  to 
be  a  possibility  so  long  as  the  suns  of  other  systems 
endure,  still  we  may  postulate  a  condition  that  will 
proclaim  an  absolute  zero  of  temperature  special  to  our 
solar  system, — if  the  solecism  may  be  permitted  for 
the  purpose  of  illustration. 

For  this  purpose  let  it  be  conceded  that  the  great 
central  fire  of  our  system  has  become  extinguished 
and  that  the  night  of  Chaos  has  returned  and  settled 
down  upon  the  region  of  force  wherein  the  sun  and 
planets  now  revolve.  A  slow  but  constant  and  certain 
radiation  of  heat  into  space  will  necessarily  ensue. 
The  aggregations  of  solid   matter  that  we    recognize  as 


THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER.  43 

planets  and  their  satellites,  as  they  exist  today,  will 
then  contract  npon  their  several  centers,  break  up  and 
disintegrate  until  all  visible  substance  must  take  flight 
in  the  condition  of  radiated  heat,  whence  nothing 
tangible  will  or  can  remain.  Deprived  of  its  combin- 
inof  heat  the  last  molecule  of  matter  will  have  been 
driven  from  its  fellow  ;  matter  will  have  disappeared 
and  there  will  remain  only  the  unknown  and  the 
unknowable  "atom'' — that  mysterious  metaphysical 
concept  of  physical  science. 

This  result  would  be  inevitable  in  the  presence  of 
the  zero  of  temperature  that  would  obtain  upon  the 
extinguishment  of  the  solar  fires ;  for  it  is  evident 
that  inasmuch  as  heat,  or  force,  must  exist  in  the 
mass  of  matter  in  order  to  give  it  form  and  substan- 
tial impenetrability,  it  will  follow  as  a  corollary  that 
with  the  departure  of  all  heat  must  disappear  the 
whole  phenomenal  universe  which  it  sustains,  —  "And 
the  Heavens  and  the  Earth  will  pass  away;"  and  the 
Earth  will  become  a  formless  thing  and  void. 

The  following  from  the  pen  of  the  brilliant  Flam- 
marion  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  this  process  of  disinte- 
gration : 

"The  Heavens  will  have  become  unrecognizable, 
the  Earth  decrepid,  dried  up,  disintegrated,  will  have 
fallen  into  fragments,  which,  spreading  themselves 
along  the  orbit,  will  continue  to  revolve  around  the 
dead  sun." 

But  he  might  have  gone  further,  for,  if  the  mass 
must  disintegrate  and  fall  into  fragments,  will  the 
process  of  disintegration  end  there  ?  Evidently  every 
floating  fragment  must  become  exposed  to  the  same 
disruptive  influence  that  shattered  the  parent  body, 
and  the  inexorable  law  of  radiation  will  enforce  the 
decree  of  disintegration  so  long  as    one    molecule    shall 


44  THE   GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

tend  to  another.  It  must  therefore  follow  as  a  neces- 
sity of  this  law  that  the  solar  system  shall  pass 
away  and  that  no  vestige  of  matter  can  remain  ;  or 
rather,  that  the  phenomenal  universe  will  be  trans- 
inuted  into  its  subjective  equivalent — a  universe  of 
invisible,  abstract  force. 

But  this  force  must  continue  as  indestructible  as  it 
was  at  the  moment  of  its  most  exalted  manifestation  in 
the  forms  of  visible  matter.  It  is  scattered,  no  doubt, 
but  in  nowise  annihilated,  and  in  the  fulness  of  time 
will  concentrate  and  evolve  again  the  molecules  that 
must  combine  to  give  form  and  substance  to  the  worlds 
that  are  to  be. 

But  in  the  course  and  progress  of  world-disintegra- 
tion what  has  become  of  the  errant  gaseous  body  we 
saw  in  the  toils  of  the  solar  attraction,  and  which  was 
subsequently  cast  upon  the  glowing  surface  of  a  cool- 
ing planet  ?  We  found  this  gaseous  body  wandering 
in  the  solitary  independence  at  the  time  when  the 
first  beam  of  light  shone  from  the  primordial  fire-mist. 
We  found  it  to  be  endowed  with  one  chief  attribute, 
that  of  indefinite  expansion,  and  hence  indestruct- 
ible in  elementary  constitution.  We  have  seen  in  the 
course  of  these  deductions,  the  process  of  combination 
by  which  the  hydrogen  in  a  state  of  incandescence  was 
captured,  converted  into  watery  vapor  and  carried 
away  ;  and  we  have  contemplated  the  unbounded  energy 
that  thrilled  the  solar  system  at  the  moment  of  that 
combination. 

And  now  in  the  process  of  disintegration  we  can 
contemplate  the  complementary  chill  of  zero  that  with- 
draws the  force  of  combination  and  resolves  the  water 
into  its  separate  constituent  gases.  At  that  stage, 
the  energy  of  decomposition  must  1)e  the  complement 
of   that    combination.         It    would    therefore    necessarily 


THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER.  45 

follow  that  at  the  moment  of  the  decomposition  of  the 
waters  of  the  globe  an  inconceiv^able  energy,  liberated 
in  an  instant  of  time,  would  cast  all  the  contained 
oxygen  as  well  as  the  entire  atmospheric  envelope  of 
the  globe  far  out  into  space  with  a  specific  force  and 
velocity  perhaps  without  a  parallel  in  the  whole  realm 
of  nature. 

Thus  a  new  comet  may  be  born  and  hurled  forth 
upon  its  impetuous  course,  carrying  away  in  its  flight 
the  atmosphere  with  which  it  endowed  the  now  per- 
ishing planet  while  the  latter  was  yet  only  in  the 
period  of  its  glowing   infancy. 

With  the  receding  atmosphere  would  also  be  carried 
away  such  watery  vapor  as  might  have  escaped  the 
shock  of  the  decomposition  of  the  seas,  together  with 
all  the  animalcular  life  germs  that  it  would  contain. 
Thus  cast  away  in  the  direction  of  the  greatest  impulse 
and  least  resistance,  impelled  as  well  from  the  liber- 
ated hydrogen  as  from  the  solid  parts  of  the  earth,  its 
flight  would  remain  unimpeded  until  the  time  should 
come  again,  in  the  distant  future,  when  it  would  become 
ripe  for  precipitation  by  the  process  noted  in  a  former 
chapter,  and  in  that  condition  would  have  cast  itself 
again    upon    a    cooling    world    somewhere    in    space. 

Since  the  foregoing  pages  were  written,  my  atten- 
tion has  been  called  to  the  following  coincident  com- 
ment from   the    pen    of  Camille    Fammarion.     He  says  ; 

"Comets  seem  to  be  an  exception  to  the  general 
uniformity  of  celestial  motions.  Whence  do  they 
come  ?  W' hither  do  they  go  ?  The  spectroscope  reveals 
the  presence  of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  and  we  know 
that  life  began  upon  the  earth  by  the  combination  of 
these  elements.  Do  comets  bring  the  seeds  which  fec- 
undate worlds  ?  Are  they  electric  storms  bringing 
new    vibrations    to    the   atmosphere    of   the    planets,    or 


46  THE    GENESIS   OF   WATER. 

do  they,  on  the  contrary,  receive  the  last  sighs  of  dying 
worlds  ?  " 

But  the  separation  of  the  water  from  the  mineral 
matter  of  a  perishing  world  would  necessarily  take 
place  many  ages  before  the  time  at  which  the  solid 
matter  could  have  reached  the  stage  of  fragmentarv 
disintegration  through  the  process  of  radiation.  Indeed, 
this  fact  is  logically  demonstrable  without  the  aid  of 
experiment. 

We  have  seen  that  the  cosmic  fires  must  have  been 
maintained  for  many  millions  of  years  before  their 
stored-up  energies  developed  the  crude  forms  and  con- 
ditions of  a  mineral  world,  while  on  the  other  hand, 
the  waters  are  the  resultant  of  hydrogen  momentarily 
heated  to  incandescence  and  thus  combined  with  the 
colder  oxygen  from  outer  space. 

The  respective  periods  of  radiation,  or  exposure  to 
the  influence  of  the  absolute  zero  of  temperature, 
therefore,  of  the  mineral  and  the  aqueous  portions  of 
the  decaying  world,  necessary  to  effect  their  respective 
disintegration,  would  be  the  complements  of  the  times 
of  aggregation,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  would  be  the 
proportion  of  millions  of  years  in  the  one  case  to  a 
moment    of    time    in    the    other. 

But  the  animalcular  life  germs  are  found  to  abound 
everywhere  in  sea  and  air.  Their  properties  are 
such  as  have  been  mentioned  in  this  chapter  ;  whence 
it  follows  that  we  have  not  the  slightest  warrant  for 
believing  that  the  chemical  decomposition  of  the  waters 
would  destroy  them,  nor  that  they  would  suffer  anni- 
hilation through  exposure  to  the  temperature  at  which 
that  phenomenon  should  occur.  Inseparable  as  these 
germs  are  from  the  atmosphere,  and  practically 
indestructible  as  we  have  seen,  they  would  necessarily 
be     borne     away     with    the     receding     atmosphere      or 


THK    GENESIS   OE   WATER.  47 

new-born  comet — the  liberated  sea  and   air  of  the  dyinj^- 
world. 

How  very  symbolic  of  the  Christian's  conception 
of  mortality  is  the  picture  that  is  thus  presented  ! 
The  soul  of  the  world,  dowered  with  the  principle  of 
imperishable  life,  taking  its  fli<^ht  to  another  state  of 
being  and  leaving  to  destruction  and  decay  the  verit- 
able corpse  of  the  erstwhile  living  planet.  Nor  does 
it  fit  with  less  exactitude  the  conception  of  mortalit}' 
and  immortality  taught  by  the  religions  of  the  East, 
wherein  the  liberated  soul  leaving  its  body  to  decav 
and  disintegration,  enjoys  the  freedom  of  a  spiritual 
existence  until  the  time  shall  come  when  the  law  of  its 
being  shall  cause  its  descent  into  another  and  another 
body,  just  as  the  cometary  soul  of  an  extinct  planet  is 
cast    upon    successive    worlds. 

And  thus  in  the  great  order  of  the  Universe,  the 
physical  life  of  Nature  is  an  immortal  principle  fostered 
and  protected  b)-  the  hand  of  Omnipotence  ;  for  cast 
upon  successive  worlds,  together  with  the  comet  bv 
which  it  is  preserved,  the  invisible  germ  will  continue 
in  its  eternal  round  to  develop  all  the  forms  of  organic 
life  beyond  the  utmost  limitary  conception  of  time. 


THE     END. 


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